Renewal Lease
A new lease term for a tenant already living in the apartment. Rent-stabilized tenants generally have a right to one; market-rate tenants generally don't, though state law requires notice before big increases or a non-renewal.
Last updated: October 3, 2026A renewal lease extends your tenancy in the apartment you already live in. How much leverage you have depends almost entirely on whether the unit is rent-stabilized.
Rent-stabilized: with limited exceptions (such as the apartment not being your primary residence), you have a right to renew for a one- or two-year term, your choice, generally on the same terms as the prior lease. The landlord must offer the renewal in writing, on the state’s renewal form, no more than 150 and no fewer than 90 days before your current lease ends. You then have 60 days to sign and return it; miss that and the landlord can refuse to renew. The increase can’t exceed the Rent Guidelines Board cap for the date the new lease commences. A late offer can work in your favor: the RGB notes a landlord can’t demand a retroactive increase, and you can choose to start the new lease either when it would have started or 90 days after the late offer.
Market-rate: the landlord generally doesn’t have to renew at all, and can ask what the market will bear, unless the apartment is covered by the state’s Good Cause Eviction law, which may give you a renewal right. Either way, since 2019 a landlord who plans to raise the rent by 5% or more, or not renew, must give written notice: 30 days if you’ve lived there under a year (or have a lease shorter than a year), 60 days for one to two years, and 90 days for two years or more. Without proper notice, you can generally stay at your current rent until the notice period runs.
Worked example
A stabilized tenant’s lease ends January 31, 2027, so the landlord’s renewal offer must arrive between September 3, 2026 (150 days before) and November 2, 2026 (90 days before). The new lease would commence February 1, 2027, inside RGB Order #58’s window (October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027), so a $2,200/month rent can renew at no more than $2,200 on either a one- or two-year term. Down the hall, a market-rate tenant who has lived there 18 months at $3,000/month is offered a renewal at $3,240, an 8% ($240) increase. That’s over the 5% threshold, so the landlord owes at least 60 days’ written notice. To check whether a renewal increase still fits your budget, run it through the Rent Affordability Calculator.